Persona 3: Inheritance
by OrpheusT
Summary: 3 years after FES. The SEES members have outgrown their teenage angsts and are on the road to becoming responsible adults. Finding their place in society is a cruel journey and they face deadlier adversaries and more horrifying truths than ever before.
1. The Beginning of Everything

_Set three years after the events of Persona 3 and The Answer, INHERITANCE continues the stories of the former S.E.E.S. members. Some of them go to college. Others discover the onerous burden of full-time jobs. But no matter what their situation is, they all share the underlying difficulty of settling down into their normal lives. When they meet again in a reunion engineered by Mitsuru, they hear rumors of Matsue, a heavily populated city without a single trace of Shadows..._

_As you guys can probably tell, I really love Persona 3. After finishing The Answer about a week ago, I felt that many questions and some of the character development remained unresolved. The sequel may have only been Aigis' answer to Minato's death, at the price of leaving out the ways in which the other characters found closure. This fan fiction is my attempt to answer some of the questions I asked after The Answer, though I'm afraid just like Atlus' product, my story will favor the character development of a few (i.e. Yukari, Junpei, and Akihiko) at the cost of the rest (I don't have any plans at all for Ken or Koromaru yet). Well, as long as you guys are aware of that, then by all means read what I've got so far and let me know if it works._

_-OrpheusT_

PERSONA 3: INHERITANCE

CHAPTER ONE

"Hey, it's Yukari. I go to Watanabe University now. Two hours by bullet train from Iwatodai and about five hours from my mom's place in Kyoto. It's not quite the first-rate university I aimed for back in high school, but it's not too shabby either. At least no one here is like Stupei. He's really one of a kind, isn't he? But he would probably take that as a compliment.

Anyways, college is a lot easier to manage than high school. No cram school, no morning assemblies, no mandatory club activities. It's kind of disappointing to feel so free. Sometimes I feel nervous and ask myself if this is really what I should be doing. You know, I promised I would change the world. I want to keep on running towards that goal, but it's hard to feel like I'm going anywhere in college. Mitsuru-senpai told me I was being too impatient. She said that the world isn't a place one person could change so easily. Maybe that's why I still call her Senpai. She's just a bit more of an adult than I am.

Oh, but you probably want to know what everyone's been doing, huh? Well, Senpai is studying business management in France. She'll take full control over the Kirijo Group next year. Akihiko-san joined the police force with Kurosawa's backing. Apparently Kurosawa has him cleaning up Shadows.

Junpei's, well you know how he is, he's totally clueless right now. You know how these days most companies have two tracks, right? You can choose whether you get promoted based on seniority or talent. Well, Stupei got really excited hearing a speech by this one recruiter and started telling me how young people these days have got a lot more potential and how it'll be a piece of cake to rise to the top. I mean, what was he thinking? Now all he complains about is how he still hasn't gotten promoted after three years of slave labor.

Aigis… oh, right! She's studying advanced robotics at Iwatodai University. Sorry… it's still hard for me to talk to you about her. Maybe it's because I see so much of myself in Aigis, it's kind of scary. But we really do have a good relationship. You don't have to worry about us, okay? Well, that's all for today. I'll be heading to class now. By the way, Senpai's coming back to Japan this week. We'll get everyone together for a reunion and after that I'll tell you all about it."

Yukari opened her eyes with a sigh. The morning's light crawled under her flamboyant pink window shades and illuminated clusters of dust particles in the air. An alarm clock on her desk told Yukari that she still had some time to kill. She brushed aside her shades with one hand, opened her window and leaned outside, bathing her head in the cold morning air. She could see her dorm mates in the courtyard and hear bits of their conversation. They were gossiping about some new exchange student.

"Hey Takeba, we're gonna grab some breakfast. Wanna come?" One of the girls in the courtyard noticed her.

"Give me a sec! I'll be right down there," Yukari answered.

She closed her window shut and plopped down on her bed. Then she let go of an odd little trinket she had been clutching all this time. It hung around her neck much like a medal, that flat circular ornament tarnished a dull gold. Both faces of the trinket were engraved with the likeness of a penetrating eye. If one studied it closely, he might discern that no matter which direction he twisted it, the eyes on both faces would confront him.

"I'm really too old to be talking to myself," Yukari said quietly sitting on her bed. She remembered the toy figurine that had hung from her cell phone strap. When she was all alone, she had confided her greatest secrets to that dear toy. But now she had real friends she could trust her life with. Just as she had given her strap away, she braced her hand to discard the gold trinket. But five minutes later Yukari found herself heading downstairs, her lucky charm still hung around the neck. Before she stepped out into the courtyard, she promised herself, "Just one more day."

* * *

Yukari came back to her dorm with a headache. She had been out with the girls all night. They had gone to a karaoke bar and ordered some drinks, then a couple guys had hit on them and everyone had gone wild. The flashing strobe lights, voices raw from all the singing, the pulsing dance floor, she thought she had surrendered herself to the ecstasy of the party, but through it all she couldn't help feeling disgusted. Yukari sank into the chair by her desk with a sigh and played back the messages on her answering machine.

"This is Mitsuru. I'll be back at the Yakushima vacation home this Friday, so I invited everyone to stop by of course. I'll understand if you can't make it. We're really busy people, aren't we? What I wanted to say is that I'd really like for you to come, Yukari. We don't get many chances to talk. That's all."

Yukari stared dully at her calendar. When had Senpai started calling her by her first name? The way she couldn't remember such details bothered her.

"Hi Yukari-san, you're coming to the reunion, right?" It was Fuuka's voice. "It's been so long since I've been to the beach. I thought we should plan a barbeque outdoors so I prepared a list of ingredients. Let's go shopping after we meet up, okay? I'm still not very good at cooking so I'll need your help!"

"How's it going, Yukari? Akihiko here. Could you tell Mitsuru that I'll be running a bit late? A recent case has been bugging me, so I'm gonna check it out before I head over. Sorry to bother you like this, but I can't make international calls from the police station."

The familiar voices comforted Yukari. There were things of joy and pain that would never change in her life. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth and tumbled into bed. As she sank into the world of dreams, Yukari clung onto the gold trinket around her neck. She passed through a turbulent storm of distorted black and white images, memories of Minato when he was alive, his cold hand sinking in the white linen of a hospital bed, the grimace of his face turned to a Shadow, and finally she burst through the murky waters and glimpsed the slump of his back. He turned towards her with a grave face and seemed to say, "Don't be shy."

She stepped forward and saw beyond his figure the anxious face of her mom. The two of them studied each other for the eternity of a heartbeat. Mom broke the silence first. "Yukari," she hesitated. "Can you forgive me?"

Yukari could feel the strong brace of Minato's arm against her shoulders. He was telling her to be brave and true to her feelings. She sprinted forward, dashing her slim body against her mother's bulk. She wanted to tell Mom that she better understood now the fathomless suffering born of loss, but the only thing she could do was sob pitiably, all voice and words caught in her throat, trapped by the weight of a shared agony.

"Who's this young man?" Mom asked, looking at Minato. She gently caressed Yukari's hair as if the two of them had never been parted. "Would you introduce him to me?"

Minato stepped forward and bowed. His mouth shaped silent words of introduction. But Mom seemed to understand. "I'm glad someone has been taking good care of you, Yukari."

"Dad left behind something for me to clean up, and we took care of it together," said Yukari.

"I'd like to hear that story someday," Mom said.

"You wouldn't believe half of it," Yukari giggled. "But what happened was…"

Halfway through the story Yukari looked back. She couldn't find Minato anywhere. She started to ask Mom where he went, but as she turned around she found herself facing the black visage of a Shadow. She panicked, running away with a shriek. The world suddenly turned upside down and she blacked out. But something wasn't right. She could feel a throbbing pain in her side. Yukari opened her eyes. The morning of a new day welcomed her. She groaned halfheartedly – what a miserable start, to have fallen out of bed. The room was a mess, too. She must have been really out of it last night.

* * *

"I'm telling you, there's no need to worry," said Junpei. "Not one bit."

Junpei was sitting with the girls in the second-floor lounge of the Kirijo villa. The view from nearby windows overlooked the entire span of the Yakushima beach. They could see umbrellas spread along the sand and couples idling beneath them. On the far end of the beach an amateur game of American football kicked up a dust storm.

"Akihiko-san's just scared of losing a bet," repeated Junpei. "That's why he's late."

"What kind of a bet?" asked Fuuka. "It's nothing dangerous, is it?"

"Nah. Sorry, but I can't tell even you, Fuuka. This kind of stuff is best kept to the guys. Yuka-tan would just get on my case anyways. Let's just say that if he came on time Akihiko would be treating us all to dinner tonight."

"No matter how I look at it, I can't see Akihiko-san losing to Stupei in anything," said Yukari.

"That's pretty harsh, Yukari." Mitsuru smiled. "I can't say I disagree though."

"Hey, hey, Senpai, why are you taking Yuka-tan's side?"

"Come to think of it, Akihiko did say he was going to be late," said Yukari. "Working on a new case or something."

"Gah! Why didn't you tell me earlier? Now who's gonna treat us all to dinner?"

"You could treat us, couldn't you, Junpei?" Aigis inquired.

Junpei eyeballed the girls and took out his wallet. He leafed through a couple one-thousand yen bills and his face paled. "I think I'm gonna have to pass this time."

"Don't worry," Mitsuru said. "I've already got it covered."

"What kind of a guy are you? Making the girls pay for everything, geez."

"You're the worst."

"Now, now, girls. I can explain everything," Junpei said tactfully, plotting his avenue of retreat. He wiped his sweating face on the sleeve of his shirt. The doorbell rang once, twice. "I'll get the door! Be right back."

"Perfect timing, Akihiko. You da man!"

* * *

Mitsuru had stayed in Europe for a couple months, so thinking that she'd prefer a change of taste, everyone ended up deciding to go to a sushi bar. Junpei sat next to Akihiko while the girls chatted amongst themselves. "How come the girls didn't nag you, Akihiko? They were all complaining how I wouldn't treat them to dinner."

"It's probably because I'm the type that's harder to get. Girls dig that type."

"No way, Senpai! You should have seen how they were all over me. Hey, we gonna see who can pick up more chicks tomorrow, right? Come on, you can't back down now. A promise between men can't be broken."

"Who said anything about backing down?"

"Then it's on!"

"Whatever."

The two of them busied themselves eating for a while.

"How's work?" asked Akihiko after his fifth sushi dish.

"Don't even get me started. I know more about video games than anyone else in the office. You know, I ought to be number one. Don't know what the boss is thinking."

"You're working for a video game company? Unbelievable."

"Hey, shut up. It's a very respectable company."

"Well, if you ever want to do some police work, you know who to ask. We could use someone with the potential."

"I know. I've been thinking about it. I felt like a hero when we were kicking Shadow butt three years ago. But ever since we lost him… I wanted to find out if I could make my way in the world without my Persona."

"I guess I can understand how you feel."

"So what's this latest case you're working on? Yuka-tan said something about it earlier."

"I'm not really sure it's a problem. The situation is hard to describe."

"Um… it's not like we're eavesdropping, but I'd like to know too," said Yukari.

"It's our responsibility to keep track of what the Shadows are plotting," Mitsuru added.

"Let's talk about it somewhere private then," Akihiko decided and everyone agreed.

Later that night, on the second-floor lounge of the Kirijo villa, Yukari served some tea while the others sat down. Akihiko looked agitated, as if trying to find the right starting point of his story. "If you remember what we were talking about earlier," he began. Everyone nodded quietly.

"Would you believe me if I told you I've come across a place without Shadows? Not just any place, but a heavily populated city without a single trace of Shadows?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Fuuka.

"We're one step closer to changing the world's yearning for Nyx," said Aigis.

"Wait, if Shadows are the embodiments of our fears and anxieties…" Mitsuru started.

"Exactly," said Akihiko. "The absence of Shadows might itself cause a change in the people. I went to visit the city of Matsue myself. Subway and bus schedules were delayed for hours, mismatching traffic signals caused a few accidents. Department stores were giving away most of their merchandise for free. You'd expect a consumer stampede over something like that, right? But almost no one was out shopping."

"Really?" Yukari's eyes lit up. "Guys, we should stop by Matsue and take a look, don't you think?"

"Could it be the Apathy Syndrome?" asked Junpei. "Those people sound a lot like the Lost."

"That's a possibility. I interviewed a couple people and they share a few symptoms with the Lost. A couple differences too, like coherence of speech and high ambulatory ability. But my gut's telling me something's different this time around. It's as if the people of Matsue have lost their darker side, all the ambition and greed, the lust and jealousy that drives human beings. When I look at them I can't tell if they screwed up or if this is the way we were meant to live, without our Shadows."

"This sounds like quite a case," Mitsuru said. "Though perhaps the missing Shadows are not the cause, but merely a symptom…"

"Would you like to see Matsue for yourselves? We had to seal off the city to preserve what remained of the local economy but I can make an exception for you guys."

"Wait, I object, Senpai. We are not gonna spend our vacation investigating some freak accident. We're gonna go to the beach and pick up girls all day. Or did you forget our bet already?"

"What?" Fuuka gasped.

"So that's what the bet was about. How disappointing," Aigis said.

"Aigis, it's best if you don't expect too much from Stupei."

"We're all adults here," Mitsuru smiled. "Iori can do whatever pleases him, no matter how low he falls. But I for one would very much like to stop by Matsue."

"That's the plan, everyone?" asked Akihiko. "Then we had best get some sleep. Tomorrow could be a rough day for us all. Not including Junpei, of course."

"Senpai, you dirty little…" Junpei beat his head against the wall. "Breaking a promise like that and you call yourself a man?"

* * *

"Oh boy!" Junpei reached skyward and stretched his body after stepping down from the bullet train. "You didn't tell me it took 6 hours to get here, Akihiko-san. I should have brought my PSP. I almost died in there listening to the girls talk."

Junpei mimicked Fuuka's high pitch voice. "Oh my, what're you going to do once we get there, Yukari-san?"

"Ready for this, Senpai? Here's my Yuka-tan," Junpei said, taking a deep breath.

"Why, shopping of course!" Junpei cackled evilly a couple times for dramatic effect. "Who can resist all the free clothes, free brand purses and bags, free perfume? Not Yuka-tan! Hey, stop it – that hurts, dude."

Yukari had grabbed Junpei by the ear. "Huh. Doesn't sound like me one bit, Stupei."

"All right, I give up! Just quit twisting my ear like that. It's no joke mutilating this sexy face."

"Wow, Junpei." Yukari said after a closer look at his features. "Tell me honestly, is that makeup on your face? It looks like you smeared a bit of foundation on your nose here and some facial cream there. Funny, I didn't know you were that type of guy."

Fuuka studied Junpei's face with an undisguised interest. "You're right, Yukari-san. It's just as you say."

"Hey, this is some kind of misunderstanding. You girls are totally getting the wrong idea!" Junpei panicked and ran off to the nearest washroom.

"Iori borrowed my makeup set two days ago," Mitsuru said. "Well, he did ask for my opinion on how to become more attractive. I admit, Iori was a bit skeptical of my solution at first, but after I lectured him on the therapeutic properties of certain chemical bases in my makeup, his face turned white and he became much more receptive to the idea."

"Somehow I sympathize with Junpei-kun now," said Fuuka.

"So Junpei was planning to use makeup to turn things his way at the beach," Akihiko mused. "Maybe I should think of doing that too."

"I just realized we're the only sane ones left out of S.E.E.S.," Yukari said to Fuuka.

"All right, everyone gather up," Mitsuru announced. Junpei ran from the washroom, his face still drenched. "Hey, you missed a spot here," Fuuka said, pointing. Junpei pulled his hat down and scowled.

"We'll be staying at the Izumo Inn tonight. Here are maps of the nearby area, with our current location and the inn highlighted in red. You're free to go your own way now, as long as you stay in groups of two or more."

"Mitsuru-senpai sounds like the Student Council President again," said Yukari. "It's a bit nostalgic, isn't it? Reminds me of our school trip to Kyoto."

"Tch, the girls are all going together," Junpei said. "Guess it's just you and me, Akihiko."

"Don't have a problem with that," said Akihiko.

"Hey Senpai, wanna play a game? Spice things up a notch while the girls are gone. Loser treats the winner to lunch."

"I'm down. Let's do this."

* * *

Yukari plodded heavily through the doorsteps of Izumo Inn. The heat was blistering outside and she felt like she was on the verge of fainting. She sighed in relief as the air-conditioned front hit her, blowing away the black spots that had dotted her vision.

"Leave the bags to me, young lady," someone said. Yukari looked up, startled.

"Oh, it's only the bellboy," she said. "You surprised me. I didn't know the traditional inns hired you guys these days." Yukari dropped her four shopping bags on the floor.

"Were you expecting someone else, miss? You sound a bit disappointed."

Yukari tried smiling. "You must think I'm a strange one, huh? I'm sorry."

"Not at all, miss. Now which room should I take these bags to?"

"2-G, please." The bellboy lazily picked up the bags and headed for the staff elevator.

"Hey, if it isn't Yuka-tan!" Junpei sat with Akihiko in the lobby's lounge. "I wasn't expecting you girls back so early. And only four shopping bags, I'm really disappointed in you. Thought you'd come back with eight or ten at the least. Was all of it free?"

"If you must know, Senpai insisted on paying for everything," Yukari sighed. "We still got bargain prices though."

"Where's the others?" asked Akihiko.

"Oh, they're taking care of something outside. I couldn't stand the heat." Yukari took a seat. "So how was your day, gentlemen?"

"Girls are too easy in this city. All too innocent and unsuspecting. There's no sport in that, right Akihiko-san?"

"Don't get me involved."

"You know," Junpei said to Akihiko. "I just got an idea. Maybe it's because I've been around girls like Yuka-tan for too long. Can't go back to the real decent girls anymore. What's that called in books again?"

"The point of no return," Akihiko answered.

"Yeah, that! You know, this 'point of no return' sounds pretty ominous to me. Maybe I'm doomed to the girls with problems now."

"Well, sorry for having problems," Yukari glared at Junpei. "Enjoy your afternoon, Akihiko-san."

She stormed blindly up the stairs. That Stupei, who does he think he is?

* * *

"Well, do you sense anything, Yamagishi?" Mitsuru was sitting in bed by Fuuka's side. The others were spread along the length of the room. Yukari stood behind them at the far end of the room, consciously avoiding the boys. Aigis sat down by the TV set and flipped through the pamphlet of late-night movie programs.

"Akihiko-san said he couldn't find any Shadows here, right?" asked Junpei.

"We should verify what little we do know first," said Mitsuru.

Fuuka opened her eyes. "I sense two Shadows."

"What?" Akihiko stood up. "That can't be… I guess you really are the best at support, Fuuka."

"I'm calling them Shadows for lack of a better word," Fuuka clarified. "But they feel different from the creatures we fought three years ago. Two Shadows… a really big one that's far away and a tiny one that's here in this room..."

"What does this mean?" Mitsuru pondered.

"A Shadow here, huh? That gives me the creeps," said Junpei. "I thought I was done with my Shadow butt kicking days."

"Yukari-san, could you come here please?" asked Fuuka.

"Sure," Yukari said. She took a couple steps and faced Fuuka curiously. "What do you need?"

Fuuka closed her eyes and reached forward with one hand. Her fingers gently brushed against Yukari's face and fell slowly down the slope of her neck. Yukari blushed. "Hey, Fuuka…. Um, what do you think you're doing? Is this really all right?"

Yukari turned her head around, staring down Junpei and Akihiko. "Don't look!"

Junpei gulped and looked away. "Hey," he whispered confidentially to Akihiko. "Does this mean Yuka-tan's a Shadow? I should apologize for what I said this afternoon. You don't think she would hold that against me, do you? I don't think I could fight off Yuka-tan if she's really pissed off. She wouldn't suck out my brains, right? We've been through so much together."

"I found it!" Fuuka cried.

"Do we have permission to look now?" Junpei asked nervously.

"By all means," said Mitsuru.

They gathered around Fuuka and for a long time no one spoke a single word. Then Fuuka broke the silence. "Is this what I think it is?"

Everyone started talking at once. Yukari threw herself on Fuuka's bed, burying her face in the pillows. "Hold on a sec," Junpei panted. "Guys, I'm totally lost here. What's going on? How's this necklace supposed to be a Shadow?"

"Look here, Junpei-kun," said Fuuka. She raised the flat gold ornament and the engraved eye blinked at Junpei once, twice. "Don't you recognize it? We saw something like it three years ago in the Abyss of Time. This must be a piece of the Great Seal itself."

* * *

All credits for the characters and events of Persona 3 and The Answer go to Atlus, blah blah blah.


	2. The Nature of Shadows

_Many of the revelations in this chapter I hoped to make compatible with Persona 4, which is coming out this winter - yay I know what I'm doing during Christmas break! Apparently in P4, which takes place a questionable 2 years after the events of P3, you find out that Elizabeth has gone in search of a way to free Minato. I don't know if you find out anything else of P3, but ideally I'd like for the events of this fan fiction not to conflict with anything mentioned in Persona 4. I'm not sure how I feel about Minato coming back to life anyways, if it ever happens. Maybe in Persona 5 or 6. One version of Minato I had imagined went berserk after a hundred years of solitary confinement in the Great Seal and tried to destroy the whole world. Did a damn good job of it too. But I don't think that will be in this fan fiction. Too depressing._

_-OrpheusT _

* * *

PERSONA 3: INHERITANCE

CHAPTER TWO: THE NATURE OF SHADOWS

"Half a year ago I received an unusual visitor in my dorm." Yukari dangled her feet over the edge of Fuuka's bed. She was facing the room's window, her back turned against the others, watching the sun's violet descent. "She was dressed in blue from her cap to her boots. Her name was Elizabeth."

"She sounds like the same Elizabeth from the Velvet Room," Aigis said.

"So Ai-chan, what's this Velvet Room place?" Junpei asked. "And who's this Elizabeth person? Most importantly, is she cute?"

"Iori, would you please stop interrupting Takeba? If you're ready, Yukari, please proceed."

"Huh?" Yukari blinked. "Oh, right."

Her visitor had stopped by during one of those cold winter mornings. Yukari had been coming back from class, marveling how she could see the shape of her own breath no matter how vigilantly the sun shone. She unlocked the door to her room, humming a tune, and found an outlandishly dressed woman sitting in her chair.

"So this is the room of a college girl. The color scheme is absolutely captivating."

Yukari's mind blanked out. "Aren't you cold?" she asked. The stranger's outfit exposed her arms and legs.

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a little discomforted. I shall take necessary precautions in the future."

Yukari turned on the heater and closed the door.

"I see. This is what they call a heater. It generates a warm front that seeps into the cold air mass. What a splendid idea! I shall ask my master to install a heater in the Velvet Room."

"Would you mind explaining what a stranger is doing in my room?" Yukari was grumpily making herself some tea.

"You don't remember me. That is a bit disappointing, but I had expected our predicament. My name is Elizabeth. I knew your friend Aigis for quite a long time, though strictly speaking our association was only for a single day. Anyways, you and I once met at the end of your journey through the Abyss of Time."

Something like a dream vaguely brushed by the edge of Yukari's mind. A blue table in the middle of a darkly lit room. An old man with an unpleasantly long nose. The answer to life.

"I'm sorry to be rude," Yukari started. She already felt the beginnings of a headache. "Let's just say that I remember you. Why did you come here? You've got the wrong person. Aigis isn't here."

"Have you found closure yet? All your friends have. After all, that poor boy Minato has been gone for over two years."

"I don't really know." Yukari hesitated, looking away. "Why bring this up so suddenly?"

"Doesn't it surprise you? I knew him too."

"I don't want to talk about him."

"But don't you want to talk _to_ him?" Elizabeth slid a dull gold coin across the room's tea table. The engraved eye slowly focused on Yukari's face. "About a month ago in your world's time I packed my things and went on a trip. I wanted to find a way to free Minato from the Great Seal when the time was right. It was a most educational experience." Elizabeth sighed in delight. "But I'll spare you the details. After all, in the end I failed to find the miracle I was looking for. Instead I found this."

Yukari could have recognized that brooding eye anywhere. She reached her fingers across the table and caressed the dull coin, taking comfort in its hard edge. The metal surface gave off a feverish heat. "Such a horrible keepsake. Like holding on to his ashes," Yukari said quietly.

"But it's more than a mere keepsake. Two and a half years ago, when he performed the miracle that saved the world, he brought forth all the Shadows that had resided within him. He used his power, tamed the Shadows into the semblance of a wall, and left behind a seed of his own consciousness to preserve its structural integrity. But when the monster Erebus arose from darkness and battered itself against the Great Seal, Minato slowly had to devote a greater portion of his awareness repairing the cracks in the wall. And so his mind passed on from this world to the next."

"This is all very interesting, but what are you getting at?" Yukari asked.

"I must apologize. I lost myself in all the fascinating details. I meant to say that what remains of his mind rests in the Great Seal. What I have here is a fragment of that wall, a broken piece of his mind. I've run a battery of tests and the eyes engraved upon the Great Seal respond positively to audio and visual stimuli. So communication should theoretically be possible."

"What?" Yukari couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you really sure about all this? What do you mean, theoretically? Why didn't you try it yourself?"

"I'm afraid I did try talking to him. I don't think he paid much attention to me. Minato must be very busy. Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure he's still sane anymore," Elizabeth pondered. "Still, the possibility of a madman trapped in a wall for an eternity is not entirely an unpleasant one. I shall have to reflect on this further. In any case, I said earlier that communication was possible. Maybe I used the wrong word. It's more like a one-sided conversation. Though if the seal has got eyes, then why can't it grow a mouth to speak? That's something I would definitely like to see."

"I'm not sure I want something like this," Yukari said slowly. "I'm not trying to run away, but I don't want to think about him all the time anymore. I'm not who I used to be."

"You're free to make your own choice as long as you take responsibility for it," Elizabeth said complacently.

* * *

"So that's how you got something like this," said Akihiko. "This trinket doesn't seem related to Matsue's problems. In any event, it's something that we brought in with us only after the people started acting strangely."

"I agree," said Mitsuru. "Though there have been stranger connections in this world, I believe that we should act as if the two are unrelated for now."

"I don't get it," Junpei said. "So this necklace is a part of the Great Seal, which is really one big mass of Shadows. What's that supposed to mean? I thought Shadows were the bad guys."

"That's what I once thought," Akihiko answered. "But remember how Metis told us our Personas are Shadows too? And now we have a problem in Matsue once all the Shadows are gone. I don't think things are so simple anymore."

"I've always wondered why Shadows take so many different forms of organization," said Fuuka. "We've seen them in shapes from animals to the latest American tanks. Now that I think about it, Tartarus itself may have been made up of Shadows."

"Come on, we already know Tartarus was full of Shadows," Junpei said. "I mean, how many thousands of monsters did we defeat just to reach the top?"

"What I mean is that the structural material that comprised the building itself may have been something like the Shadows. How many times did we think ourselves at the summit of Tartarus? Then after we beat one of those Twelve Shadows, after the substance of their body disappears, a new block suddenly rises out of nothing. It can't just be coincidence."

"We took a lot of the Dark Hour for granted three years ago. But there are obviously rules that govern the Shadows' behavior," said Mitsuru. "Unfortunately most of the knowledge was lost thirteen years ago in the very accident that created the Dark Hour itself."

Junpei scratched his head. "What does it matter? Can we just leave it where we beat Nyx? What's the point of all these details?"

"I just wanted to prepare you guys," said Fuuka. "I mentioned earlier there were two Shadows in Matsue, right? I've never sensed anything like the enormous Shadow beneath us. I can't detect its exact extent but I'm sure it runs under the entire city. And from what I can tell, it's not the type of Shadow we can fight."

_

* * *

_

Too bad this chapter wasn't as much fun to write as the previous one. Not enough Junpei X Yukari teasing going on. Maybe too heavy on plot. I think I did start getting a vibe for Elizabeth's eccentricities, but that doesn't come close to Junpei X Yukari. _But I promise I'll get back to character dynamics soon!_


	3. Descent into Madness: Junpei's Vision

_A little slower update than I had anticipated. School started and I didn't manage to correct my procrastinating summer habits as much as I had expected. But I'll probably release the next chapter in two to three days (Fuuka and Mitsuru's visions. Maybe I'll include Yukari in that chapter too, if I don't feel like doing Akihiko or Aigis haha. I planned to save Yukari till the end of the visions sequence because the idea behind hers is the most poignant, but we'll see). Anyways, it's finally Friday! Cheers for the weekend! Hope you guys enjoy your leisure time too._

_-OrpheusT_

* * *

PERSONA 3: INHERITANCE

CHAPTER 3: Descent into Madness. Junpei's Vision

It took them the better part of the next day to find the second Shadow. This was mostly because the girls with the exception of Aigis refused to climb down the sewers, so the brunt of the work was left to Akihiko and Junpei.

"Why did we have to do everything?" Junpei groaned again. They had signaled their location to the others half an hour ago. "I mean, I can understand Fuuka staying behind to provide backup. But what's so special about Yuka-tan and Mitsuru?"

"I'm not complaining," said Akihiko. "Got a good workout killing all those sewer rats."

"Dude Senpai, you're not gonna believe this. I saw one the size of a watermelon and took it out like this," Junpei was showing off. He backed up a few steps and charged forward with a right hook. "Pretty good, huh?"

Junpei tumbled into the sewage after another demonstration of his moves. He pulled himself up and sat down against a wall. "I need a cigarette. After all this is over I'd like a real vacation."

"I'm sure Mitsuru can arrange something. When did you start smoking?"

"Not too long ago."

"You should stop while you're not hooked yet."

"That's easy for you to say. Smoking and the girls at hostess clubs are all that's keeping me on my feet. Work's a bitch, Senpai."

"Even a videogame company can be strict, huh? I'm surprised."

"Ah, just shaddup."

"Akihiko-san is correct. Smoking is quite harmful to a human's body," Aigis said.

"Not you too, Ai-chan!"

"Oh, hey guys." It was Yukari. When she came closer her nose cringed. "You really smell, Junpei. I mean, worse than the sewer, if that's even possible."

"Blame this dummy here," Junpei gestured towards Akihiko. "When he set off that bomb we had to dive underwater not to get blown up. You know, we've survived through a lot of things that would have made quick work of anybody else, but I thought we were goners for sure that time."

"You guys didn't say anything about a bomb."

Akihiko rubbed his singed eyebrows wryly. "Like I told you, we were standing a couple feet above whatever it was Fuuka sensed. I thought I'd try clearing the way so I used one of the plastic explosives I got from Kurosawa. I never expected it to be so powerful."

"What took you girls so long anyways?" Junpei eyed the plastic raincoat Yukari was wearing. "Don't tell me you went and bought those while we were down here."

"It's as you suspected, Iori. Don't worry, we brought enough for everyone," Mitsuru said. She eyed Junpei's condition critically. "Though it appears to be too late for some of us."

"Geez, I was doing all the hard work while you girls were having fun. I'd like some appreciation here."

"Mitsuru-san. Yukari-chan. You should really take a look at this." Fuuka was standing in the depression where the bomb had gone off. The others gathered around Fuuka. Junpei remained sitting where he was and said to himself, "Don't just ignore me, damn it!"

Under Fuuka's feet the concrete walkway had been blown away, leaving ragged streaks of a dull gold metal. Mitsuru picked up a piece of concrete. "The difference between the two materials is amazing. The concrete was completely blown apart, but its foundation is hardly even scratched."

"Hey, there's a hole over here," Yukari pointed out. "Something's odd about it too. The inside's really smooth like it was cut with something incredibly sharp."

She estimated the hole's dimensions with the tip of her index finger. 2 centimeters deep, a diameter of 6 centimeters. Yukari unclipped the fragment of the Great Seal dangling from her necklace. The neckpiece's languid eyes narrowed coyly into impenetrably narrow slits. She lowered the piece above the hole and gauged their comparative sizes. Then she pushed it into the hole. The neckpiece clicked into place as if it were always meant to be part of a whole. "Just as I thought," Yukari said quietly. "Everything in this world is connected. All things lead back to him."

The ground shuddered. A bit of gravel leaked through the cracks left by Akihiko's explosive. Then the metal plate supporting the former S.E.E.S. members plunged into the subterranean darkness. When they came to their senses much later, they each spoke of seeing distinct visions, some of the distant past and others of the future's possibilities. But before all this, in the first stage of their descent, they saw the edges of infinity unraveling by means of some terrifying madness. They saw Shadows born of humans and humans born of Shadows and neither vision was stranger than the other. They saw a metropolis raised from the bottomless abyss never to see the light of day. And in the center of the darkness they saw an atrocity so hideous their minds revolted, rejecting the sight of it. Yet that image of calamity pierced their trembling eyelids, prying open the bloody pulp of their eyes, and all that which they dreaded most came before them as a revelation...

Junpei saw himself in the hospital sitting by his father's side. The old man was wasting away from a cancer of the liver. In life he drank to forget his troubles. Now only a few breaths away from death he took an excess of morphine to dull his pain. His body was numb as if stricken with paralysis. "Junpei," the old man croaked in a parched voice. The boy pulled down his hat and averted his head. "Junpei. You were never any good. No matter where you go, no matter who you work for, you'll always be used like a piece of trash. That's because you're my son. The same blood in me runs through you, and this will always be your curse…"

The old man's trembling stilled and a cold wind blew through the open hospital window. Junpei looked up. His eyes were red and his face had the bearing of a desperate man. A nurse passing by offered her sympathies. "I'm sorry we couldn't do more for him."

"I hated my old man." Junpei said slowly. "But I thought I understood him. He stood against everything I believed in and I fought him with my every breath. Everything I hated about myself I put in him. And so I made him my enemy. But now that he's gone the world feels a lot more empty."

Junpei stood up and paused by the hospital window. The evening sun cast a blaze across the sky. He could see no hope for the future. Like his old man said, he could not escape his own self. The only power he had ever known was that of his Persona and it was a bulky unwieldy thing only fit for destroying Shadows. He longed for a far greater mastery over the human mind, something like a panacea that could be applied to his every wound.

The sun had already set. Junpei absent-mindedly watched the aftermath of dwindling colors. He could not imagine a harder thing in this world than to change oneself. It was easy to be changed by others. He had seen such things all the time. But to transform of his own agency, that was a miracle beyond all his previous efforts. "How did you do it, old buddy?" Junpei asked softly, haunted by the past. "I really need your help, Minato."


	4. The Final Death

_After Minato lost consciousness in the ending of the original P3, probably becoming much like one of the brain-dead Lost, I don't think his friends or relatives would have kept him on life-support for a number of years. I've read up a bit on Japanese medical practices regarding brain-dead patients (those with no hope of recovering their consciousness and whose bodies can only survive on permanent life-support) and because they take a slightly different view of death (for whatever reasons, you can ascribe much of it to Buddhist / Shinto practices), it is less likely for Japanese families to preserve the lives of the brain-dead. That is not to say it does not happen, of course, and Minato is the messiah that saved the world from destruction, and Mitsuru does have the wealth to keep Minato on life-support, so maybe Minato's body was preserved. But I didn't choose for that to happen in my fan fiction. So here are Yukari's memories of Minato's formal passage into the next world._

_I also decided not to do the visions of all the other cast members like Fuuka, Mitsuru, and Akihiko, though I had initially planned for them. But the concept of these visions was already done in FES: The Answer, so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. I'll probably give a few details of what each of these people saw as they tumbled down towards the second Shadow that Fuuka sensed in Matsue, but that stuff comes later._

_Next chapter will be titled: _Minato's Story_!_

_-OrpheusT_

* * *

PERSONA 3: INHERITANCE

CHAPTER 4: The Final Death

Yukari slumped against a wall inside the Nagasaki Shrine. She tried to suppress the shaking of her shoulders. Slowly she reached for the top of a nearby bench and slowly she started pulling herself upright. But the spasm of her fingers betrayed her half-way through. She fell down and hit her face on the floor. With one ear to the floor she could hear the priest's sutra rumbling through the wooden planks. Yukari covered her ears. She felt a terrible compulsion to plunge her hands deep into the hollow of her ears, to gouge out the nerves of her eyes. But the weakness of her hands frustrated her.

"I will _not_ watch this again," Yukari said brokenly. "I refuse to go through this charade!" She thought of night and the dead vacuum of space and tried to empty her mind. But despite all her efforts she could not slow the coming of the nightmare.

_She remembered standing at the head of a line inside the Nagasaki Shrine. At the priest's signal she wetted a cotton ball in a basin of water. Then she came forth slowly, one somber step after another until she stood before the still body. She dabbed the moist cotton against its lips once, twice. After that she proceeded to the far end of the chamber. Looking back she saw the line massing forward, hands indiscriminately reaching for the cotton balls, tediously separating them from one another. One of the hands belonged to a sickly young man. His nose twitched at the strong smell of incense. He sneezed in his hands and wiped them on his pants. Picking up a piece of wet cotton he walked to the body. Yukari watched him spitefully from the corners of her eyes. Dirty despicable hands. How dare they touch _his_ body? She thought of a hundred different ways to kill the offender. She pierced his body with arrow and sword. She shot his head from the front, the sides, and the back. She amputated his limbs and let him bleed to death. She castrated him and let him bleed to death. She tied weights to his feet and cast him into the Sea of Japan. Yukari started running out of ideas. The ceremony was almost over._

_Yukari remembered washing the naked body. The skin was cold and pale, especially around the shoulders, the buttocks and the heels. These parts had lain closest to the dry ice packed at the bottom of the coffin. At the time she had lifted the corpse into the temple bath. The body was lighter than she had expected. It did not yet smell of rot but rather of a mild and fragrant sweetness. She filled the bath with lukewarm water and rubbed the soap down the smooth length of his limbs. Then she rinsed and dried him off with a towel. Dressing him in a white shirt and a black suit, she carried him back to the coffin. The priest took him away. After that Yukari didn't know what to do next. She went to the women's washroom and turned on the tap of a sink. Then she looked at her hands. They still carried the scent of soap and an undefined sweetness. Yukari started to put her hands under the sink and hesitated. Studying her hands more closely she could see flakes of dead skin clinging to the nubs of her fingers. Yukari took a deep breath and washed her hands thoroughly._

_The next day went by like a blur. The priest chanted another set of sutras that morning. Then he gave the body a Buddhist name. Yukari could not understand the meaning of the name's characters. Mitsuru said it was taken from an ancient Japanese script. But all Yukari knew was that the body could no longer be called Minato and then she began to despair. After the ceremony the guests paid their final respects and left. Yukari placed a bouquet of pink gerberas on the body. She waited for the coffin to be nailed shut. Then the priest dragged the coffin into the back of a truck. Yukari got in with Mitsuru and Aigis and the priest drove them to the crematorium. In a small room painted white they watched the body slide into the furnace. Nothing told them the body was being burnt but a single light switched on, a sullen orange light. But Yukari could imagine the inside of the furnace, a resurging flame that incinerated everything in its sight, that once carried her hopes and her dreams and burned so brightly she thought it could never be doused. Yet before she knew it he had vanished before her eyes and even now she could not fully believe it._

_One hour and twenty minutes later an employee of the crematorium stopped by and turned off the furnace. He offered his condolences to the party and told them to please wait fifteen minutes for the machine to cool down before checking the ashes. Yukari and Mitsuru went to the shop at the front of the crematorium. They looked up and down the aisles for an appropriate urn. Mitsuru ended up choosing one. Then they walked back to the furnace room. Yukari slid the furnace open and took a pair of chopsticks in her hand. Aigis stood behind her and Mitsuru waited by the far end of the room with the urn. Yukari sifted through the ashes for the prominent bones. The priest standing by her side told her to pick up the bones of the feet first. She took one of the charred bones between her chopsticks and passed it to Aigis. Mitsuru told Aigis to pass the bone to her. Dropping the bone in the urn, Mitsuru clicked her chopsticks and told Yukari to hurry up…_

The images flooded Yukari's mind. She kept remembering more and more of what she had desperately tried to forget these past three years. Her throat strained tight and her mouth gaped open like a silent scream passed through, never ending and never relenting. Her eyes flew open and she lowered her hands from her ears. She recognized the scene of the repeating nightmare. She was back at the funeral rite listening to the final sutra. The priest would soon give Minato a new name and never again would he rise from the dead.

Yukari got up on her feet. She walked up the aisle to the front of the shrine where the priest raised his hands benevolently. As she passed by a murmur gathered behind her like a wave and gained impetus with her every step. When the priest ended his sutra, Yukari seized one of his bony hands lifted in benediction. The priest could not decipher her face's expression. He asked her, "What's the matter?" Yukari broke the priest's wrist with a quick easy snap. "No more," she said. "Never more." Then the priest howled in pain and the audience howled in outrage and the space collapsed around them howling like a whore raped over and over.

And then she was alone. It was as if hers was the only existence that had ever graced the universe. Her heart beat furiously against her chest and she wondered if that was the first sound she had ever heard. She felt on the verge of running away, poised like a deer in flight after the first gunshot. Then from the deep a voice issued forth that named her Yukari. It was not the kind of controlling voice telling her how to feel, but instead something like the trickling of a stream over the rocky terrain and she knew it could be trusted. For the first time in three years Yukari laughed freely. The nightmare was finally over.


	5. Minato's Story

_I wanted to release this chapter earlier, but college hit me hard. Been pretty busy of late. I still want to finish this fan fiction though, or at least take it to a temporary ending point. Due to the one month time difference between this chapter and the rest of the story, there may be certain discrepancies - let me know about them if you find any, please. Next chapter: The Longest Journey?_

-OrpheusT

* * *

PERSONA 3: INHERITANCE

CHAPTER FIVE

Minato's Story

_One week after Akihiko's expedition collapsed in the sewers of Matsue_

"Perfect record." Akihiko wiped his hands clean. He had just come back from another case. "Kurosawa's getting old if he can't handle something that easy."

"So that's what you call a perfect record. Senpai, you didn't solve the case in Matsue. We never figured out what was going on back there." Junpei was thinking more deeply than usual.

"Hey, brighten up. What matters is that we got to the scene and somehow things got better. You don't hear about Matsue's economy in the news anymore. And we got Minato back, so that really counts as two wins, don't you think?"

"What's your opinion about all this, Minato?" Junpei asked.

"Me?"

"Come on, Minato," Junpei frowned. "You gotta know something. I've been doing some research. I hear you were the one who carried us to the hospital when we collapsed in the sewers. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you came. But just how'd you know we were in a pinch?"

"You were pretty heavy," Minato said. "I thought I was never going to make it. But Yukari helped me out."

"Yeah," Yukari chimed in. "What about showing some appreciation, Junpei? The others were unconscious but you were the only one having a heart attack. If we had gotten you to the hospital just a bit later you could have been in serious trouble."

"Come on, get real. There's no way I had a heart attack. You guys are just conspiring to make the awesome me look bad."

"It's nothing to be ashamed about," Akihiko said. "Hey, do you guys remember what you saw before we all passed out?"

Junpei scratched his head. "Bits and pieces, I think. Something about my old man pissed me off."

Yukari's face paled and she shook her head vehemently. Standing behind her Minato was startled by the violent reaction. He placed his hands reassuringly on her shoulders, but feeling her flinch upon his touch he slowly let go. "You guys don't have to think too hard," Minato said a little sadly. "Some things don't necessarily have any meaning. So long as we can keep on living just like this, we'll be all right."

"I agree," Mitsuru spoke up. She had been leaning quietly against the wall gauging everyone's reactions. "Minato, I need to speak to you privately for a moment. It won't take long."

"I don't mind. Well then, excuse me." Minato followed Mitsuru's lead deeper into the sanctuary of the Kirijo manor.

"After you," said Mitsuru, opening the door to a drawing room.

One of the maids was inside cleaning. When she saw Mitsuru the maid stopped her duties and curtsied. "What are your orders, Miss Kirijo?"

"Please make sure no one is eavesdropping on our conversation."

"Yes, Miss Kirijo." The maid closed the door behind her.

Sitting down Mitsuru folded her arms primly. At first her legs agitated nervously. But she came quickly to an utter stillness of the body as if she had reached a decision. "Minato. I want to ask about your intentions for the future."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say."

"It really has been three years. I'm sorry. There must be so much you don't know," Mitsuru said. "Surely you've noticed that everyone's situation has changed? Even yours too, though you may not be aware of it."

Minato nodded quietly. He wanted to say something, but already he felt oppressed by a trick of fate, a mistake that could no longer be righted even if he gave up his life for it.

"We cremated your remains three years ago. The best doctors in Japan all told me you would never think or talk or breathe on your own again. I wanted to dispose of the body quickly."

Minato contemplated the solidity of his own body. He could make no sense of Mitsuru's account. He felt sick to the stomach.

"I thought the funeral would help Yukari in the long run. It wasn't healthy for a young girl to cling so desperately to a fairy tale. And so I destroyed the last of her hopes though she hated me for it." Mitsuru's voice broke. Her throat choked up with emotion as though she were reliving the choice presented her that day.

"You did the right thing, Mitsuru."

"How can you be so sure?" Mitsuru's eyes were wide and incredulous.

"Am I not here now? Aren't we all reunited again?" Minato smiled sadly.

Mitsuru recovered a bit of her spirit. She returned Minato's weary smile. "Minato, you're no longer supposed to be alive anymore. The records show that you died three years ago, remember? You can't go to Gekkouhan High School, not even under a different name. People would recognize you. And that's why I asked you what you wanted to do."

Minato was silent for a long time. The clock ticked quietly and down the hall he could hear the muted laughter of his friends. Once he would have done almost anything just to spend one more day with everyone. But already he could tell that they were not the inseparable bunch he had fought with three years ago. Where was Ken? They were all slowly going their separate ways and soon he too would have to choose if he would follow one of them or walk his own path.

"If you don't have anything in mind," Mitsuru cleared her throat. "I'd like you to attend Watanabe High School. Yukari goes to the university there. I want you to keep an eye on her. She's been acting really strangely since the Matsue incident."

Minato sighed. "I'm not the right person for this."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't really understand it myself. It's just – never mind. You're probably right."

"Good. I'll arrange the proper documents with the school's registrar. And one more thing," Mitsuru hesitated. "It's a silly question, but do you remember anything after you lost consciousness?"

Minato thought about it. "Feelings, mostly," he said distantly. "The dull, persistent pain. But superseding it, an imperturbable tranquility. I felt like I was complete and that nothing could take the feeling away from me. And when I thought about things like that, the pain wasn't really important anymore. It felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders after a very long time."

"I was tired and so I slept. In my sleep I dreamed of things from this world and from many others like it, but through all the dreams I felt detached as if I had nothing to do with them. Until one day a voice pierced my heart bringing stories of college life, of delinquent mothers and a group of friends scattered across the globe, of a nameless hero who sacrificed his life to save the world, such stories that filled my mind with lukewarm images and the seed of regret. I wanted to live again. I reached forth trying to grasp that dazzling world. But it fled from the darkness cast by my arm, and for the first time I looked upon myself and found that I had become a creature of the night…"

Minato shut his eyes. He shook his head side to side and when he opened his eyes he appeared to be dazed. "Sorry, what were we talking about? I lost track of myself for a second."

Mitsuru had been absorbed in the narrative herself, but she could decipher little useful information from the obscurities that riddled Minato's story. She decided to drop the matter for now. "Not much. Just catching up on old times. It's getting late. You're free to go if you're tired."

Mitsuru opened the drawing room door. She found Yukari crouched outside, hands cupped around one ear. "Huh?" Mitsuru backed up, startled. "Where'd the maid go?" Yukari blushed fiercely and cast her eyes on the carpet's intricate design. In the next moment a heavily bruised Junpei ran by panting heavily, pursued by a maid armed with a broom.

* * *

Yukari X Junpei The Strongest Team! On the rare occasion when their interests collide hehe


End file.
